I received a copy of <i>Sorority</i> from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I was not a fan of this book. To say it had an ensemble cast would be an understatement (25 sorority sisters to keep track of?!?!) and, while each character gets her own story, many characters are interwoven into other stories, making things quite confusing. There are too many characters to keep track of and, unless read in one sitting, readers will most likely have to flip back and forth to figure out who's who. Also, while several stories were interesting, many seemed disjointed and some even seemed pointless. And the dead sorority sister looming in the background doesn't have much of an impact, in my opinion. I read a few reviews that mentioned Crane didn't write <i>Sorority</i> as a complete novel and is instead a collection of stories about sorority sisters, but the fact that each story includes several characters and is interwoven at times leaves me unconvinced. That said, I would like to end on a positive note by saying that, again, several stories were very interesting. But, unfortunately, I would not recommend this title.

A pleasant surprise.

I was expecting either trashy fun or irritating vapidity, but this was a much smarter, slyer book than I had anticipated. The publisher's summary definitely doesn't do justice to the content.

Well written, surprisingly thought provoking, and weird...in a good way.

I enjoyed the unusual narrative structure, and the ending was excellent.

I did not end up finishing this book. I got about halfway into it and was not a fan. It was more a series of vignettes about each sorority sister than the thriller about a dead sister that I thought it would be about. Also, all the characters were pretty awful. There was one scene that I found incredibly upsetting involving baby ducks which made me put the book down for good.

This book kept shifting from perspective from person to person and timeline to timeline. I couldn't get into the way it was written. It is a tale of hazing and sorority life.

Initially, I thought this book would be the typical and relaxed kind of read I needed in between books. Omg, the structure of this book turned out be a bunch of mini narratives in one and that because daunting within itself. I was impressed by how she kept everything tied together despite the large amount of characters and structure of the book. The characters were well developed, interesting, though I wish there were less and I found a few to be more interesting than others. I found the style to be interestingly edgy and a new take on sorority life. Thank you Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the e-copy arc to review.

I read Sorority by Crane over a week ago, but I've been sitting on it wondering how exactly to review it. You see, the book is not your average summer page-turner full of plot twists. Instead, it is a series of vignettes about various sorority sisters who all lived in the house when a tragedy occurred. Rather than unfolding as a linear plot, it works more as a variety of separate but connected short stories. The stories are connected through the house and the sister who is no longer alive, Margot. As someone who is a fan of short stories, I loved the way this novel works. But, I suspect others may be surprised by the format.

Next, Sorority is a work of fiction. However, it is apparent that the writer knows some "secret sorority" stuff that anyone who has participated in Greek life will recognize such as rituals and Big/Little relationships. As a former sorority girl, I loved those parts of the book! But, it is important to point out that, again, this is a work of fiction. If you read it expecting it to be like the undercover memoir Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities, you have the wrong idea. (Side note - I loved Pledged for different reasons).

As a work of fiction, Crane is able to tell stories that seem realistic and far-fetched at the same time. For example, in my sorority years, there were young women who had some run-ons with drugs, but unlike drugs in the book, they involved weed or Ritalin. In the book, drugs are an everyday experience in this house - and wind up contributing to a death. There is a sister who has an odd job as a naked sushi model and I had some sisters that worked as shot girls in bars. Similar in the modeling aspect, but very different. Do you see what I mean?

I have seen where some readers have taken issue with the antics of the sorority girls in the book, but I just want to say, it is fiction! I enjoyed it! And, I really liked how it was more of a character story than a fast-paced book based on a scintillating plot. I thought it was interesting how Crane showed her different women behaved and how they were (or were not) affected by the tragedy. Too often, people mistake sororities as being filled with a bunch of look-alikes and act-alikes, when anyone who has been in one will tell you this is far from the truth. Sorority does a fine job of showing that is just the case.

Sorority by Genevieve Sly Crane was just released in time for the summer (and before fall recruitment begins).

*Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this advanced reader's copy.

After reading the blurb I was excited to jump in. Unfortunately, it fell flat and missed its mark. The blurb made it sound like a-who-dunnit based around a sorority, but it couldn’t be farther from that. I was overwhelmed at the start because too many characters were introduced at once. I may have been able to settle into it if the girl’s stories intertwined but they very rarely did. On the off chance they did, it was usually only a passing comment that linked them. There was no clear plot point and it just felt like I was reading random diary entries. The biggest thing that bothered me was the use of dashes to indicate speech instead of quotation marks. To say I am disappointed is an understatement since clearly the author can write and write well. I just wish there was an actual story behind the words.

I didn't enjoy this book at all, I hate books that don't put quotations around when someone is speaking, I find this to be a very annoying part of a book. The story was also very confusing. I did not finish this book.

Sorority by Genevieve Sly Crane
Source: Netgalley
My Rating: 2/5 stars

I’m not sure there’s a place to start with this review and I very much want to avoid ranting and/or bashing so I’ll start with good and go from there.

The Good

The Writing: Genevieve Sly Crane sure knows how to weave a tail, and she pulls all the words together in a rather beautiful way. She hasn’t created a single novel, but shorter individual stories that are connected by the sorority each girl is a member of.

The Characters: Like the writing, the characters are beautifully written, very real girls/women who have very real lives, difficulties, and issues. Every story reveals the portrait of an individual, and though there are a ton of characters, each is very much an individual with her own story to tell. Please note: my assessment in this section is solely related to the author’s skill and ability. As you shall see below, it has nothing to do with the personalities of the characters.

The Bad

The Characters: For as beautifully written and real as each character is in this book, there is not a single one in the group who is worth rooting for. From the moment this set of stories opens to the very last page I found myself somewhat disgusted by the behavior of every character. Every member of the house has some sort of emotional issue and/or trauma that requires professional help/therapy. Where the issue comes for me is the fact that NOT one of those girls makes any effort to get help and/or seek treatment. In fact, each girl makes a concerted effort to not only hide her issue or continue with it/them in order to impress the other members of the sorority. Finally, there is the fact that most of the girls know about one another’s issues and rather than try to help one another, they find vile ways to encourage the behavior and then delight in their “sisters” pain. There is truly not a single redeeming quality to be found among any of the characters in this book.

The Bottom Line: While I certainly can’t criticize the author’s writing abilities, I do have a huge problem with the characters who live within the covers. With what was perhaps a great sense of naivety, I stuck with this book all the way through to the end with the stupid hope just one character would do something decent and/or good. Had just one good thing come out of this read, I may have had an entirely different opinion. Alas, I was let down and can’t find a way to reasonably recommend this book to any reader.

P.S. Though I was never a sorority girl, I find it very hard to believe there is a sorority on earth as truly awful as the one depicted in this book. Yet again, this may be great naivety, and if they are this bad, may God have mercy on your souls ☹

This book was not what I expected AT ALL. It is very disjointed and feels more like a collection of random short stories vs. a cohesive novel. I really didn’t like any of the characters, and I never felt a connection to them. As a result, I ended up skimming portions. As a note to those considering this book: Sororities are not painted in a positive light, and there are numerous references to sex, drugs, and alcohol. I anticipated more of a thriller/mystery angel to the plot, but, sadly, that wasn’t the case.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. I wasn’t required to leave a positive review.

The story was not what I expected. It read more like a short story collection than a novel. The most positive aspect is the realism used to portray the sorority and it's members.

So I picked this up thinking it would be completely different than it was. I expecting some kind of plot to surround these girls and the sister who is found dead right away in the book. But it isn't that.

This is more of a collection of character studies of girls in a sorority. And for that reason, I see it more as a collection of short stories, and less of a novel. Also, without a driving plot, it was a super slow read.

I know there have been some wide variety of reviews on this book so far... and I get it. The idea of the deep dark secrets of sororities attract people, and then when the truth is expanded to keep a reader interested reader villainize all sororities.

I have read that Crane was in a sorority, and therefore she has a solid base to write on, and I'm sure that is probably true. But as this book points out, this is just one possible example of how the urban legends of sororities happen, and how each house allows such stories to be spun to keep up the intrigue of their secrets.


One line in the book says about the people in a treatment center to the girls, "They're just exaggerations of my sorority sisters at school: madness varied, but madness contained." And this small points speaks to people, in general, doesn't it? Some know how to keep their madness contained enough to be accepted by society at large, while others struggle and stand out. What if the sorority gives a place for that madness to be contained? Like some families end up doing?

Overall, this is an interesting glimpse into what one group of girls could have been... There is enough truth of girls in this that it will bring up strong responses of readers, no doubt.

Prep and Girls in White Dresses are two of my favorite books so I was really excited when I saw this described as a combination of the two. This was good but not great. I have a weakness for anything set at a prep school or a college campus so I did enjoy it but I guess I wanted to know more about the characters or maybe it just needed a little more plot.

I did not manage to finish this book. I just couldn't get in to the way it was written and couldn't get to know the characters.

Well. This was such a different book for me and it had a completely unexpected ending. I’m sitting here like, wow. Hmmm.

But it was good! It’s not a whole story, exactly. It’s about the members of a sorority and, while they are connected by that, it’s almost a group of short stories. I’ve not been a member of a sorority but it strikes me that it’s probably a fairly realistic representation of that life.

I liked it a lot and would recommend others to read it.

This book was not exactly what I expected. It is not a neat story of sorority life on an idyllic Northeastern college campus. It is actually more of a “true” story. It is the story of a sorority with all its warts showing, told as a series of stories set during and after college about the sisters of this sorority. The sisters were a diverse group with a prim and proper “church” girl, the girl who sleeps around, the ones who drink and do drugs, and they didn’t all know each other well nor did they necessarily like each other. The stories center around one cataclysmic event in the life of this sorority, the death of a pledge from an overdose. This format made the book a little disconnected but I still enjoyed it. It reminded me of my sorority days, a walk down memory lane with all its bumps and potholes. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book was not at all what I was expecting. It was described as a mystery, but instead it is just a bunch of stories about some girls who lived in the same sorority. You might like this book if you were ever in a sorority, but I just couldn't relate.

“It’s absurd. It’s obnoxious. It’s impossible to leave.”
Were you in a sorority? If you answer yes, Genevieve Sly Crane’s novel, SORORITY (Scout) is the book for you. SORORITY is a deliciously addictive, compulsively readable exploration of female friendship and coming of age. And let’s face it, those of us, who answer no, are really curious about what goes on in a sorority house.

Shannon is a bulimic. Kyra is considered a slut. Ruby worships at the altar of weight watchers. Marcia is failing all her classes, while popping Ecstasy. Ruby is a rich bitch. Jennifer is good at everything, except commitment. Lisa is a pot smoking Barre addict. And Margot is dead.

There’s a rumor she died because she couldn’t take the pressure of being a pledge. You may not ask what happened to her. It’s not your business. But it wasn’t a suicide, if you’re wondering.

Spring Fling will not be cancelled. The deposit is non-refundable. And Margot would have wanted the sisterhood to continue in her absence, if only to protect her sisters’ secrets.

With a sharp sense of character and prose, Crane exposes the undercurrents of tension in a world where twin-sets, pearls, secret handshakes and perfection come at a cost. Where love bombing, used in cults, keeps the girls in line.

The best things in life are painful and nearly impossible to acquire: Beauty. A mother’s love. And friendship, or at least the appearance of it.

*****

genevieve-sly-crane-100304340

Genevieve Sly Crane was the Pledge Mistress of her own sorority. She graduated from Stony Brook University with her MFA in Creative Writing and Literature in 2013. Her work has appeared in The Southampton Review and American Short Fiction. Her story “Endings, Bright and Ugly” was a finalist in the 2017 American Short(er) Fiction Prize. She teaches in the Department of English at Monroe College.

twitter: genevievescrane

This book is broken up into different vignettes about the experiences of groups of girls in separate sororities at different times over the years. We learn about some of the girls and what they are known for. For instance, some are thin, or virgins, or have slept with many guys. There are tales of the initiations of the girls and what some endured to be able to be accepted into the sorority.

There is sex, booze, and drugs happening at any time which doesn’t put out a positive note for sororities.

I did not join a sorority and am happy that I didn’t. To me, the juvenile and humiliating initiations are just a joke. However, I realize that a lot of young women out there feel they need to put themselves through this to be part of a “group."

I thought this story would be a type of thriller or mystery and am disappointed in what I found. However, if you were part of a sorority at one time in your life, perhaps you will enjoy this book more than I did.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Having read news reports about hazing and other illegal activities in college fraternities but not seeing much news about sororities, I was interested in how Genevieve Sly Crane would portray them. “Sorority” is fiction but because Crane was once a sorority sister I anticipated that it would have some truth and reality in it, and if it does, it’s not a pretty picture. The sisters were cruel, judgmental, extremely self-absorbed, and none of the characters were very likable. The characters were well drawn, but from the blurb of the book I was expecting a plot driven story with a resolution at the end. “Sorority” was more like a collection of short stories told by a variety of characters (too many in my opinion) who shared some common experiences. I would like to read more from Genevieve Sly Crane, but this book wasn’t for me.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 4/30/18.